A rounded upper back is often caused by spending long periods of time hunched over a desk or steering wheel. Caused by overly tight chest muscles and weak mid- and upper-back muscles, this can lead to upper-back and neck pain, and poor posture in your golf swing. Strengthening the muscles that retract or pull back your shoulder shoulder blades can help alleviate this problem.

Karen Palacios-Jansen is the creator of Cardiogolf, a golf-fitness program available at Cardiogolf.com. Karen’s website at www.kpjgolf.comis a ‘must-see’ resource for golf and fitness instruction. Follow Karen online on Twitter and Facebook.

In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing better and in better shape than exercising or practicing for two or three hours once a week. First of all, it is always hard to find big chunks of time to do massive workouts or beat balls on the driving range. Secondly, the long workouts or practice sessions usually lead to fatigued swings, injuries and ingrained bad habits.

There is something to be said about the momentum of taking small daily steps towards a goal that is cumulatively better than taking big steps with less frequency.

Use the Cardiogolf ‘Shortee’ Club to practice everyday. If you don’t have room to swing a regular golf indoors or you can’t make it to the golf course or driving range, use the Cardiogolf ‘Shortee’ Club to practice anywhere and at anytime.

If your struggle with when and how to hinge your wrists, here is a drill to help you learn how to start your swing.

Wrist hinge should happen naturally in the golf swing. If your grip is in a neutral position,the wrists will be able to fully hinge as you swing the club back to the top. There is no exact spot where you are supposed to hinge your wrists.

Some players set their wrists very early in the swing and others create the hinge later in the swing. Most high- handicappers go wrong when they have no wrist hinge and have to end up hinging their elbows instead to get the club to the top.

Wrist Hinge Drill Variation-

Set-up in your normal golf stance.

Swing the club back and let the weight of the club hinge the wrists naturally.

At about the halfway back point in your swing, your club and forearms should form a right-angle. Hold position for a moment.

Karen Palacios-Jansen is the creator of Cardiogolf, a golf-fitness program available at Cardiogolf.com. Karen’s website at www.kpjgolf.comis a ‘must-see’ resource for golf and fitness instruction. Follow Karen online on Twitter and Facebook.

In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing better and in better shape than exercising or practicing for two or three hours once a week. First of all, it is always hard to find big chunks of time to do massive workouts or beat balls on the driving range. Secondly, the long workouts or practice sessions usually lead to fatigued swings, injuries and ingrained bad habits.

There is something to be said about the momentum of taking small daily steps towards a goal that is cumulatively better than taking big steps with less frequency.

Use the Cardiogolf ‘Shortee’ Club to practice everyday. If you don’t have room to swing a regular golf indoors or you can’t make it to the golf course or driving range, use the Cardiogolf ‘Shortee’ Club to practice anywhere and at anytime.

This exercise will help you improve your flexibility to increase your range of motion to make a better swing. Try this flexibility exercise that targets arms, shoulders, obliques and core muscles.

If you have limited side bend, then you will also be limited in your spinal rotation because one motion cannot happen without the other motion. Any limitations in this area will cause you to slide or sway in your golf swing. Improving your range of motion so you can side bend will help you make a better backswing and follow-through.

KarenPalacios-Jansen is the creator of Cardiogolf, a golf-fitness program available at Cardiogolf.com. Karen’s website at www.kpjgolf.comis a ‘must-see’ resource for golf and fitness instruction. Follow Karen online on Twitterand Facebook.

In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing better and in better shape than exercising or practicing for two or three hours once a week. First of all, it is always hard to find big chunks of time to do massive workouts or beat balls on the driving range. Secondly, the long workouts or practice sessions usually lead to fatigued swings, injuries and ingrained bad habits.

There is something to be said about the momentum of taking small daily steps towards a goal that is cumulatively better than taking big steps with less frequency.

Use the Cardiogolf ‘Shortee’ Club to practice everyday. If you don’t have room to swing a regular golf indoors or you can’t make it to the golf course or driving range, use the Cardiogolf ‘Shortee’ Club to practice anywhere and at anytime.

Ideally as you swing back, the wrists hinge naturally. Every golfer has a different degree of angle in the wrists, but most good ball strikers create the wrist hinge at about the 3/4 of the way back position in the backswing. So that the club and arms form the letter “L” as shown in the photo on the left. If you lack wrist hinge, then you will probably end up hinging or bending your elbows instead, destroying a major power lever in your swing. This drill will help you feel how the wrists hinge on the backswing.

Y to L Drill

Hold a Shortee Club with both hands and set up to hit a shot

Notice how your arms and club form the letter “Y”.

Make a wide takeaway, hinge your wrists and stop at the point where your front arm and club form the letter “L”.

KarenPalacios-Jansen is the creator of Cardiogolf, a golf-fitness program available at Cardiogolf.com. Karen’s website at www.kpjgolf.comis a ‘must-see’ resource for golf and fitness instruction. Follow Karen online on Twitterand Facebook.

In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing better and in better shape than exercising or practicing for two or three hours once a week. First of all, it is always hard to find big chunks of time to do massive workouts or beat balls on the driving range. Secondly, the long workouts or practice sessions usually lead to fatigued swings, injuries and ingrained bad habits.

There is something to be said about the momentum of taking small daily steps towards a goal that is cumulatively better than taking big steps with less frequency.

Use the Cardiogolf ‘Shortee’ Club to practice everyday. If you don’t have room to swing a regular golf indoors or you can’t make it to the golf course or driving range, use the Cardiogolf ‘Shortee’ Club to practice anywhere and at anytime.

Alignment is the easiest fundamental to work on, and probably one of the most neglected principles of golf. A good shot is useless unless it is going toward your intended target.

First, you align the clubface square to your target line, and then you align your body. One of the biggest mistakes I see, as a teacher, is when people line up their body to the target first, then set the clubface down to the ball. This sequence usually makes people misalign their bodies, causing them to twist and turn inappropriately to get the ball to the target. Do not make the mistake that 90 percent of higher-handicappers do by not taking the time to align the body correctly.

The easiest and most effective way to practice your alignment correctly is to set-up in an alignment station.

Alignment Drill

Place a club or alignment rod down on the ground, pointing it parallel to your target. With a secure grip and stepping forward with your back foot, set the clubface down behind the ball with the leading edge perpendicular to your target line.

Then set your front foot into position and adjust your back foot into place so that both are parallel to your target line.

Your feet, hips, knees, shoulders and even eye line should be parallel to your target line. Avoid aiming your body at the target. This closes you off and promotes an inside-out swing or makes you hook the ball excessively. You may even come over the top on the downswing to pull the ball back towards your target.

Practice hitting to targets in an alignment station so you can teach yourself to aim correctly.

Karen Palacios-Jansen is the creator of Cardiogolf, a golf-fitness program available at Cardiogolf.com. Karen’s website at www.kpjgolf.comis a ‘must-see’ resource for golf and fitness instruction. Follow Karen online on Twitter and Facebook.

I teach Golf and Pilates. I am a LPGA Master Professional and Certified Personal and Pilates Trainer

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Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. Do the Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine. Practice something about your game everyday. #CardioGolfChallenge Practicing at the range is good, but if you have a swing fault, then instead of improving your swing with more repetitions, you just end up ingraining the swing […]

Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. Do the Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine. Practice something about your game everyday. #CardioGolfChallenge In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing […]

“The best psychologist in the world is a square clubface at impact,” – Ben Hogan Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. Do the Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine. Practice something about your game everyday. #CardioGolfChallenge In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 […]

Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. Do the Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine. Practice something about your game everyday. #CardioGolfChallenge In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing […]

Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. Do the Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine. Practice something about your game everyday. #CardioGolfChallenge In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing […]

Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. Do the Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine. Practice something about your game everyday. #CardioGolfChallenge In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing […]

Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. For many of us, we used to be able to hop out of the car, go straight to the first tee and rip a drive down the middle of the fairway. Now by skipping a warm-up before a round of golf may mean […]

Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. Do the Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine. Practice something about your game everyday. #CardioGolfChallenge In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing […]

Visit Cardiogolf.com to download the FREE Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine E-Book. Do the Cardiogolf Pre-Round Warm Up Routine. Practice something about your game everyday. #CardioGolfChallenge In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal. Making 10 practice swings a day or exercising for 5 minutes everyday will get you playing […]